You do get used to seeing it. When I first moved to Chicago it was shocking to see so many homeless people. It made me uncomfortable and was a serious culture shock. A few times I had people stop me on the street and try to hustle, I must have looked like an easy target (young white kid who had never lived in a city). After a year I was much colder, and it stopped bothering me so much. You can get used to anything, for better or worse.

It's a nice sentiment to help whoever you can, but when you walk by dozens of homeless people every day you start to realize you can't stop to help each individual.

It's one reason I don't live in the city anymore. Cities are fun and can have this crazy energy about them, but there's something about being around so many people at once that makes you feel disconnected.

I hate stupid videos about people ignoring the poor asking for money, it doesn't show the entire picture. I work in NYC and give money to the poor sometimes, but if you always gave, you'd be poor yourself. On any given day,I'd pass by or am asked for money by close to 20 people. I'm a broke entry level college grad,do I have $20 a day to give?

I hate stupid videos about people ignoring the poor asking for money, it doesn't show the entire picture. I work in NYC and give money to the poor sometimes, but if you always gave, you'd be poor yourself. On any given day,I'd pass by or am asked for money by close to 20 people. I'm a broke entry level college grad,do I have $20 a day to give?

I give beggars cards from a temp staffing agency they give me such nasty looks. They want money to buy booze and drugs they don't want to work to improve themselves.

There are people who are too idealistic and there are people who are too callous. There's a middle ground as well, and everyone criticizes everyone else. No matter what you do, someone thinks you're wrong.

Fact of the matter is I've donated and given to charities and handed things and money to those in need. The problem is that you never quite know who is trying to take advantage of you. It's not wrong to protect your earnings and to suspect the intentions of others any more than it's wrong to give freely without a second thought.

People should be responsible for their own well-being. They should carry their own weight and it IS truly unfortunate when they are unlucky and end up unable to. It's nice of others to help out but they have no obligation and it's certainly not directly their fault that some stranger has less money than them. Providing handouts is, to me, a higher moral ground and a higher standard of behavior that you can't expect everyone to meet. People aren't required to be heroes or anything.

One of the barbers I go to had come from the streets. What he told me was a good portion of the homeless in the area were on drugs or have alcoholism. The alcohol, I do not think, is a full contributor in all those alcoholic cases.
In Hong Kong, many of the beggars I saw had some form of amputation. They just lay in the middle of the pedestrian overpasses with a cup in front of them.
In Thailand, I drank a tiger (local beer) with a buddy while a double amputee panhandling in front of us for five minutes before he pulled out a cell phone and left.
In Yokosuka, Japan (near Tokyo), there was a homeless man who would sleep near a local koban box (mini police station).
In Las Vegas, NV and San Diego, CA, I have seen several homeless playing instruments while they panhandled.
In Peru, going from the airport to the Business District, you can see area go from shantytown, to nicer shantytown with fences, to houses with adobe walls topped with broken glass, and so on.
One elderly homeless woman last year told me about how she someone burned a mark on her while she slept. She never woke up to see who did it.
I prefer donating to help the musicians, the elderly, and some other method for everyone else. The musicians because they are not simply panhandling, they are artists trying to make a living. The elderly, because life is hard enough living on the streets without punks coming around to beat you.

One of the barbers I go to had come from the streets. What he told me was a good portion of the homeless in the area were on drugs or have alcoholism. The alcohol, I do not think, is a full contributor in all those alcoholic cases.
In Hong Kong, many of the beggars I saw had some form of amputation. They just lay in the middle of the pedestrian overpasses with a cup in front of them.
In Thailand, I drank a tiger (local beer) with a buddy while a double amputee panhandling in front of us for five minutes before he pulled out a cell phone and left.
In Yokosuka, Japan (near Tokyo), there was a homeless man who would sleep near a local koban box (mini police station).
In Las Vegas, NV and San Diego, CA, I have seen several homeless playing instruments while they panhandled.
In Peru, going from the airport to the Business District, you can see area go from shantytown, to nicer shantytown with fences, to houses with adobe walls topped with broken glass, and so on.
One elderly homeless woman last year told me about how she someone burned a mark on her while she slept. She never woke up to see who did it.
I prefer to help the musicians, and the elderly. The musicians because they are not simply panhandling, they are artists trying to make a living. The elderly, because life is hard enough living on the streets without punks coming around to beat you.

My grandma has told me of people who were kidnapped and their captors intentionally maimed and blackmailed them. The captors would put the amputee in a public place with a cup and collect the earnings at the end of each day. Apparently, some people with disabled family members also did this. I've seen a few people who were in such a terrible state that I questioned how they managed to get to that area to begin with. Granted, this was in Taiwan, not HK, and I was a little kid but, still...

Donate money to charity and go out to help people. The problem with alot of charity though is so many people donate to food charities that homeless people dont have other things you need like toiletries, clothes, and shelter.